Hot Corner: University of Alabama athletics playing games

Alabama coach Anthony Grant apparently has his reasons for keeping Justin Knox from going to UAB. (The Birmingham News / Mark Almond)For one reason or another, the University of Alabama athletics department is playing hardball with Justin Knox and UAB.

Knox, the Alabama basketball player and no relation to me, wants to transfer, and UAB is apparently is his first choice. A letter he received from the UA athletic department seemed to say that the University of Alabama System has a rule or policy that no student-athlete can transfer within the system -- at least that's what Knox's uncle thought. I read the letter online, and you could take it a couple of ways. It doesn't say there's a policy -- and it's incredibly easy to prove there hasn't been a policy -- and it doesn't say, "Justin, in your case, you can't go to UAB" -- which is likely the true intent of the letter.

It's laughable that UAH is included, which obviously was intended to cover up the truth. Putting the Division II Chargers on the restricted list makes it sound like there's a policy in place within the system, though, now doesn't it?

On Wednesday, Alabama AD Mal Moore released a statement that said all transfers are considered on a case-by-case basis. That's closer to the truth without telling it.

First of all, coming and going between Alabama and UAB hasn't seemed to be a problem, even though there has long been animosity bewteen the schools. A women's player transferred Wednesday. Back in the Gene Bartow days, men's basketball players Keith McCord, Eugene Jones and William DeVaughn all transferred directly from Alabama to UAB and, more recently, Jason Reese walked on at UAB in 2000, then transferred to Alabama to play three more seasons.

And even in football, for gosh sakes, Aaron Johns transferred from Alabama to UAB and Taylor Britt transferred from UAB to Alabama.

If transfers were considered on a case-by-case basis, it would be interesting to know which ones have been refused. I can't list the students whose transfers were turned down; none has ever been reported. It may have happened, but if it did, it would appear that something must have been going on for it to be turned down.

Which leads to the question of why Knox has been restricted from transferring to UAB.

It's clear to me that what's going on here is that Tide coach Anthony Grant has a bone to pick with either Knox or UAB coach Mike Davis. A petty attempt to hurt Knox's basketball future because he left? Afraid of UAB? Ticked at Davis? Who knows?

What we do know: The cold war between UA and UAB isn't close to thawing out.

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